


The Phone Call

by TryingNormal42



Series: Naturali Extras [6]
Category: Original Work, The Naturali Compendium
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 19:08:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9338948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TryingNormal42/pseuds/TryingNormal42
Summary: An alternate Scott and Matt meet-up.





	

They were on their way to Mama Dell’s when Matt’s phone rang. He pulled it from his hoodie pocket, hit _Answer_ without checking the Caller ID, and pressed it to his ear.

“Yo.”

“Is this–” The voice was suddenly drowned out by a steady stream of a loud, pumping beat of music. There was a rustling sound, someone shouted “Watch it!” and the music died in Matt’s ear. “Hey, sorry about that,” a guy’s voice said, “but I’m calling for a, uh, a Rex. Is this–is this him?”

Matt froze, kind of glad he’d just stepped onto the curb. “He’s dead,” he said bluntly, causing Seth and Sara to turn around. He motioned for them to go ahead into the diner and that he’d catch up.

“Shit, really? When did it happen?”

“Three weeks ago. November twenty-first.”

“Jesus Christ, I’m so fucking sorry I–Wait, did you say November _twenty-first?”_

“Yeah. Why?”

“That’s so weird ‘cause I swear I met him, like, a week after that.”

The lump formed in Matt’s throat again. “Describe him. Now.”

“Okay, umm, dark skin, blue eyes, hair fuzz. Kinda sad-looking to be quite honest.”

“What was he wearing?”

“Oh, God, umm … Hold on, I know this one. It waaaas–Ah, I remember now! It was one of those cool novelty t-shirts. It said  ‘ _Gay Unicorns Are The Best Unicorns_.’ I was totally jealous.”

Matt laughed. “Yeah, that was one of his better ones.”

“So that was actually him?” the guy gasped.

“Yeah.”

The guy let out a low whistle. “So he really wasn’t joking when he said he was a _divus_. Shit.”

“Wait, you’re Naturali?”

“Yeah. Erant-Vulpes. You?”

“Erant-Lupus.”

“Niiice.”

They fell into a comfortable silence–which was weird considering they were on the phone–until Matt spoke up. “So, um, why’ve you called asking for my dead boyfriend?”

“Wait, he’s your boyfriend too?”

“Yeah.”

“Christ, do I know how to pick ‘em,” the guy mumbled before clearing his throat. “Well, uh, hey I’m real sorry about that. That’s tough.”

“I’m dealing,” he lied, sitting down on the curb.

“Liar.”

“Am not.”

“Are too. Even over the phone you don’t sound fine to me.”

Matt chuckled, shaking his head. “How can you tell when my friends can’t?”

“There’s something in your voice that gives it away, I can’t really describe it.”

“Huh,” Matt said.

“Anyway,” the guy said. “I was just calling to, uh, call, I guess. I mean, I would’ve called sooner but I was a little nervous an’ all. The booze in my system is helping quite a bit right now.”

“Wait, did Rex tell you to call me?”

“Uh, sort of. He gave me this phone, told me to call your number, and . . . Yeah, told me to call you. That’s it.”

“Liar,” Matt said automatically, and then blinked, wondering where that had come from.

The guy laughed. “Okay, okay, you got me. That’s not all he said.” The Vulpes paused for a moment and the sound of him breathing was oddly comforting to Matt–but he couldn’t figure out why. “He, um, he told me that we’re, uh . . .”

“Come on, spit out. We’re what?”

“Uh, _anima-coeunts_. He said we’re _anima-coeunts_.”

Matt stopped breathing. “I–I’m sorry, but what did you just say?”

“I’m your _coeunt_.”

“Um, uh, what–what’s your name?”

“Scott,” the guy said, and Matt’s head spun. “Scott Crandall. You?”

“Oh, uh, Rex didn’t tell you?”

“Nah, I think he wanted you to tell me yourself. So … insert name here please?”

“Right! Uh, M-Matthew, er, Matt. Matt Connors.”

“Nice to meet you, Matt,” Scott cooed, and he felt his face go red.

“Uh, n-nice to meet you too, S-Scott.”

“Alright, alright, let’s start back with the basics. Matt, how are you?”

“I-I’m good … I think.”

“Now I know why I could tell you were lying,” the Vulpes chuckled. “Hey, you can tell me anything you know. We are _coeunts_ after all.”

“Please stop saying that.”

“Uh oh, you don’t sound too pleased with me. What did I do wrong?”

“It’s not you, Scott, it’s just … All this, the whole _coeunt_ thing, it’s too much right now. It’s too much too soon.”

“I get it,” Scott said. “You’re still mourning Rex. It’s alright. I can respect that.”

“It’s not that,” Matt said automatically, and then sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I mean, yeah it is, but now’s not a good time for me. I–” His voice cracked, tears in his eyes. “When Rex came back from the _regni-decidet_ to visit, I did something that really messed up my life. I don’t … I don’t want to bring you into that. Not now.”

“Hey, kid, I might be your _coeunt_ but I make my own choices. Can you let me decide for myself if I want to be dragged into your shit?”

“Scott–”

“Don’t sigh my name like that, you’re making me horny.”

“Jesus Christ,” Matt laughed, wiping his tears. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“Hey, I speak the truth. Also, I’ve got a question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Where you at? Like state, city, or whatever.”

“Melbourne, Maryland. You?”

“I’m actually in Nevada right now, sampling some Naturali gay nightlife on the Vegas Strip. The casinos were getting boring.”

“Liar.”

“You got me,” he sighed dramatically, and Matt could almost hear the smile in Scott’s voice. “I kept losing all my money. For a kleptomaniac Vulpes I’m surprisingly bad at cards. It’s weird.”

“Plus they probably don’t appreciate you cheating.”

“Damn, I can’t keep anything from you. Okay, yeah, a couple of ‘em _did_ kick me out, but hey, sue me, I like shiny things. And casinos are _really_ shiny things. Actually, hold on a minute.”

“Um, okay?”

“Good evening sir, but I must say that is a _lovely_ hat you have there. Where on earth did you acquire such a fashionable old thing?”

“Scott?” Matt asked, confused. “Who are you–”

“Shh,” he said. “No, sorry, sir, not you. Yes, you were telling me about the hat … Oh, that’s just _marvelous_. How delightful. Thank you, sir, thank you … And to you, yes. Have a wonderful evening.”

“Scott, what on _earth_ did I just hear?”

“Me stealing that guy’s wallet and really nice watch while he told me about his horrifically ugly hat.” There was a rustling sound. “Sweet, fifty bucks. I can get a motel room now.”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“It’s what I do. In fact, I’ve been pocketing people’s stuff as I’m walking along the Strip talking to you.”

“Great,” Matt mumbled. “Only I would get a _coeunt_ who’s a professional pickpocket.”

“And one who very rarely gets arrested for it,” Scott added brightly. Matt laughed. “Hey, why don’t I come up and visit one day? We can have a good chat–Well, not that this isn’t a good chat, it’s a great chat, ‘cause I really like talking to you an’ all but, like, a proper chat, ya know, like, a face-to-face chat. Whaddya say?”

“I think you need to take a breather first,” Matt told him.

Scott took a deep breath. “Yeah, uh, sorry, it’s kinda one of the many traits we Vulpes have. Plus, the fast-talking helps when you’re pickpocketing since it distracts people from their stuff ‘cause they’re tryin’ to keep up with you while you talk.”

“Ya know, I don’t think you paused throughout that whole sentence,” Matt said.

“Huh. Really? I tend to do that. Sorry. What was I talking about?”

“Coming to Melbourne for a visit?”

“Oh, yeah! Whaddya say, Matt? Like, Christmas or something? I’m not sure I could get you a present, but personally I think my body is a gift in itself.”

“I dunno …”

“Hey, it’s cool, you’re not sure, I get it. Just lemme know, okay?”

“Yeah, alright.”

“Save my number.”

“I will.”

“Good.” Scott fell silent for a moment. “So, um, I’ll talk to you later, right?” he asked softly. “You won’t, like, forget to call or whatever?”

“I don’t think I can forget you, Scott.”

“Good. That’s great. I’m glad I made an impression.”

“Just don’t get yourself arrested while you’re in Vegas, yeah?”

“I’ll try.”

“Scott.”

“Jeez, we aren’t even together yet and you’re already breaking out the _do-what-I-tell-you-or-I’ll-cut-off-sex-for-a-week_ voice.”

Matt laughed. “I just don’t want to get a call from you saying that you’re in jail or something.”

“Yes, because my _coeunt_ is the first person I’d choose to call if I needed bail.” Scott paused. “Actually, now I know _why_ it’s good to have a _coeunt_. I think Taco’s getting tired of me calling him anyway.”

“You have a friend name Taco?” Matt asked. “On second thought, why am I so surprised? Of _course_ you have a friend named Taco.”

“He ate fifty tacos under ten minutes, I say he deserves the name.”

“Sounds like it.”

“Maybe you’ll get to meet him one day.”

“I’d like to meet your friends.”

“It’s just Taco for me, but ditto. I wanna meet your’s too.”

“Scott?”

“Hmm?”

“You do realize we’ve been trying to say goodbye to each other for, like, ten minutes now but we keep finding something else to talk about.”

“We _have_ only just met.”

“Goodbye, Scott,” the Lupus chuckled.

“Bye, Matt.”

He took the phone away from his ear, thumb hovering over the _End Call_ button, but then quickly put it back to his ear. “Wait, Scott, don’t hang up!”

“Still here,” came the Vulpes’ voice.

“Um, will you … Will you call me later tonight?” Matt asked softly. “I haven’t been sleeping well since Rex died and we, uh, we used to call each other before bed, just to, ya know, talk or whatever, so I was just wondering if–”

“If I wouldn’t mind calling you to help you fall asleep?”

Matt’s cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. “It’s okay if you don’t want to, I mean, we have only just met, er, talked or whatever, but–”

“Matt, chill,” Scott said gently. “It would be an honour to call you. Anything for my _coeunt_.”

“Uh, r-right. I mean, um, bye?”

“There you go. I’ll call you later, yeah? Nine good?”

“Fine.”

“Alright. Until tonight.”

“Yeah. Until tonight.”

“Bye, Matt.”

“Bye … Scott.”

Matt hung up the phone and got to his feet, turning around to find Seth and Sara standing there. “I thought I told you guys you could go ahead without me,” he said.

“You did,” Sara replied. “But that was thirty minutes ago. You’ve been on the phone the entire time, Matt.”

“I–Really?”

She nodded. “Who were you talking to?”

“Um, a friend.”

“And what kind of friend keeps you on the phone for thirty minutes? You hate talking on the phone,” Seth said.

“He’s … Rex’s friend,” Matt told them, and his friends faces softened.

“Oh. Well, then you must’ve had a lot to talk about, huh?” Sara asked.

Matt grinned, surprising them because they haven’t seen him smile in a while. “Yeah, we did. He’s gonna call again tonight so we can talk more.”

“That’s good,” Seth said.

“It is?”

“Yeah. I’m glad you have someone else to talk to besides our group of friends.”

* * *

Scott called at nine on the dot, right when Matt was finishing up brushing his teeth. He raced out of the hall bathroom, stubbing his toe on a forgotten textbook as he rushed into his room, and grabbed his phone from off the bed.

“Hey,” he said breathlessly.

“You sound out of breath,” Scott said. “Were you doin’ somethin’ dirty?”

“Uh, n-no. I–y-you called while I was brushing my teeth. I stubbed my toe on my Geometry book when I went to grab my phone.”

“I see.”

“What do you want, Scott?”

“Hey, you’re the one who told me to call you. I can just hang up if you want me to go.”

“No! Wait!”

“Kidding!” Scott sang. “That means you were eagerly awaiting my call, weren’t you?”

“Shut up,” Matt grumbled, seeing his face go red in the mirror.

“You sure take a long time to brush your teeth. Is is because of all those extra canines you’ve got?”

“I just finished,” Matt said with a roll of his eyes, walking out of the bathroom and down the stairs. His father was at the breakfast nook, reading the newspaper, when Matt padded into the kitchen. “Anyway, what’re you doing?” he asked.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a corner of the newspaper flip down.

“Pleasuring myself.”

Matt squeezed his eyes shut. “Please don’t, my dad’s in the room.”

“So that means I can talk dirty to you and you won’t do anything about it ‘cause you’ll be all flustered since your dad’s in the room?”

“Come on,” he whined.

“Oh, I can _cum_ if you want me too.”

“I’ll hang up. I swear.”

“No you won’t, you’re secretly enjoying this,” Scott told him, and Matt hated to admit that he kinda was. “So … you wanna know what I’m doing with my hand right now?”

“Ohmigod!” Matt squeaked, slamming the cupboard door with a little more force than was needed. The paper flipped down, his father raising an eyebrow at him. He managed a weak smile before turning away and hissing into the phone, “Scott, I swear to God I’m gonna reach through this phone and strangle you.”

“Liar!”

Matt let out a groan, abandoning his cup to stomp up the stairs and slam his door shut behind him. He went to lock his door but froze, remembering that his father had taken all the locks off every door in the house except the front door.

“Oh,” he mumbled.

“Oh, what?” Scott asked, jolting him back to reality.

“I was, um, I was gonna lock my door but I forgot my dad took all the locks off the doors.”

“He took all the locks? Why?”

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Does it have to do with that thing that happened after Rex visited?”

Matt crossed over to his bed and laid down, lazily pulling the covers up to his chest. “Yeah.”

“Alright, then I won’t ask.”

“Scott, I–”

“Seriously, Matt, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“I’ll tell you one day,” he said. “I promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

They fell into that comfortable silence again.

“Hey–”

“Hey–”

They both laughed.

“You go first,” Matt said.

“What’re you wearing?”

Matt’s face went bright red. “Uh–”

“Come on, humor a lonely and horny young Vulpes.”

“It’s just a t-shirt and sweatpants, the ones I got for football.”

“You play football?”

“I do.”

“What position?”

“Defensive tackle.”

“I don’t know what that means but it sure sounds sexy.”

Matt laughed. “I protect the Quarterback.”

“Ah, sounds fun.”

“I get to tackle people. It’s pretty fun.”

“I bet you’re just a bunch of abs and muscles, huh?”

“Football’s hard work. I worked hard for my beautiful six pack.”

“Describe yourself for me. I wanna know what you look like.”

“Well, I have brown hair and grey eyes, which I got from my mom. I’m exactly six foot tall. Dad says that I’ve got my mom’s dimples when I smile and all her heart. I get freckles when I’m in the sun for too long. Annnnd … I’m pretty endowed if I do say so myself.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a lot going on for yourself.”

“What about you?”

“Me? I’ve got full on orange hair. Blue eyes that I’ve been told sparkle like the ocean. Freckles galore. No dimples, sadly, though those are cute. I’m six-foot-three, but then take out the ‘foot’ and the ‘three’ and that’s what little Scott is.”

“Nice,” Matt chuckled.

“So what are you doing now?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? Well, I think I can change that. Put your hand in your pants.”

“Scott, I–no. My door doesn’t have a lock. My dad, he could walk in at any moment.”

“Then we better be quick about this.” When he didn’t get a response he said, “Matt, how long has it been since you pleasured yourself?”

“I–”

“Since Rex died, right?”

“Longer,” Matt said softly. “About a month and two weeks. We picked up the week before he died.”

“So now you have all this pent-up sexual energy, right?”

“I-I guess.”

“Well tonight I’m going to relieve you of some of that pent-up energy. Now put your hand in your goddamn pants like I told you and cup yourself.”

“Alright, alright,” Matt said. Hesitantly he slid his hand into his sweatpants, cupping himself, and he gasped almost instantly.

“That was quick.”

“I told you, it’s been a while.”

“I didn’t think it was _that_ long. Anyway, now I want you to slowly move your hand up and down your shaft.”

Matt did as he was told, his breathing slowly turning into panting as the feelings he’d repressed for so long started coming back to him.

“Good, you’re doing good. Now, start pumping faster.”

“I already am,” he gasped, hips bucking off the mattress.

“Imagine my face, Matt. Imagine it from the description I gave you. Do it and then say my name.”

Matt’s breathing quickened as he imagined Scott in his head; the flaming orange hair, the freckles, the sparkling blue eyes. ”Scott!” he exclaimed, sticky, white cum coating his hand as he collapsed back against the mattress.

“I even came at that,” Scott said after a moment, sounding shocked, and Matt chuckled.

“I haven’t done that in a while and it felt really good,” the Lupus admitted sheepishly.

“Told you it would.”

“I’ve also never had phone sex.”

“Then we’re going to have to start making a habit of this, aren’t we?”

“It felt good but …”

“But what? Matt, come on, just tell me.”

“It felt like I was betraying him,” he said softly, tears in his eyes.

“You mean Rex?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, Matty, no. You weren’t betraying him, he’s the one who brought us together. We wouldn’t have started talking, we wouldn’t have had the most amazing phone sex I’ve ever had if it hadn’t been for him. We owe it to him to figure this out, together.”

“It’s just too soon, Scott, I don’t know if I’m ready to date anyone right now, let alone my own _coeunt_. Rex has only been dead three weeks.”

* * *

Seth searched the lobby waiting room for any sign of Scott. He finally found him in a chair across the room, knees bouncing as he checked his phone.

“Scott?”

The redhead looked up from his phone. “Seth?”

The Alpha nodded. “Yeah.”

“Is he–Is he alright? I knew something was wrong when he didn’t answer my calls ‘cause he always picks up around the third ring and usually after two-thirty when he gets out of school and if I don’t call on time he usually calls me and–”

“Whoa,” Seth laughed, holding his hands up to stop the Vulpes. “You gotta chill.”

“Sorry, force of habit. When I get nervous I end up talking about a mile a minute and never know when to stop so I don’t usually stop I just keep on rambling until someone tells me to shut up and–”

“Scott?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

The Vulpes took a deep breath. “Right, okay. Woo, I’m good now … I think.”

“Come on, I’ll take you to Matt.” Seth was surprised when the redhead got to his feet, considering he’d never met an Erant who was taller than six-foot-one–and Scott was six-foot-three. “Um, yeah, follow me.”

He led Scott to the elevators and they rode up in silence.

“You never told me,” Scott said as they walked toward Matt’s hospital room. “If he was alright or not.”

“He had a relapse. We thought he was getting better, we really did, but I guess we didn’t look hard enough.”

Scott’s brow furrowed in confusion. “A … relapse?”

Seth’s eyes widened. “He didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what? I mean, he’s told me some things, like about Rex and stuff, but there’s always that one thing. And no matter how hard I try I can never get him to talk about it.”

“When Rex was here, right?”

Scott nodded. “He won’t tell me and it makes me worry about all the stuff he’s bottling up inside.”

“I know.” They stopped in front of Matt’s door and Seth pushed it open. “Hey, Matty? You have a visitor.”

Scott hesitantly stepped into the room, blue eyes widening when he saw Matt in the hospital bed, gauze wrapped around his neck and wrists. “Matt?” he breathed.

Matt’s eyes instantly filled with tears and he dropped his head to his hands. “I’m sorry!” he sobbed, surprising Seth and Sara. “I’m so sorry!”

“Why?” Scott asked. “I don’t–I don’t understand. Why would you hurt yourself like this? Is it because of Rex? Because he-he died?”

“No one understands what I went through when he died,” Matt cried. “The pain it caused me. I thought I would never love anyone the way I loved him and then you–you said that you–”

“That I loved you,” Scott murmured, Seth and Sara’s eyes widening. “And that caused you to–to what? To try and kill yourself?”

“I’m sorry,” Matt said. “I didn’t want you to find out this way. I was going to tell you, I just didn’t know how. It was hard enough on Rex the first time I did it, I didn’t want to scare you away too.”

“Scare me away? You think you can scare away the guy who can pickpocket half the people on the Vegas Strip, while he’s talking on the phone, and not get caught? You think you can scare away the guy who once swindled a millionaire out of a hundred-thousand-grand, and then convinced him to give it all to charity?” Scott laughed, ruffling the Lupus’ hair. “Matty, you can’t _ever_ scare me away because, and I’m sorry to say this, but unlike Rex, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be by your side forever, you know that.”

“Can you ever forgive me?”

“Forgive you? Of course I can, you jackass!” He grabbed Matt’s face in his hands and kissed him. “I love you, okay? And no matter what happens, I’ll never leave your side. You’re stuck with me forever. Or, until, ya know, one of us dies. Which neither of us will because we’ll live forever and ever in a magickal land of gumdrops in a house made of gingerbread and peppermints and candycanes and–” He stopped suddenly. “I think I might be hungry.”

“Just a bit,” Matt chuckled through his tears.

“Are you allowed to leave yet? I’ll take you wherever twenty bucks and a stolen Mastercard can get us.” Matt gave him a look. “What, I gave the guy his wallet back. Okay, I _mailed_ it back. I’m not that heartless. It was a really nice wallet.”

* * *

When Matt’s phone rang while he was in the lunch line he was expecting to hear Scott’s voice on the other end. But that’s not what he got.

“Is this … Matthew Conners?” a male voice said.

“Sure is. May I ask who’s calling?”

“We’re calling in regards to your _anima-coeunt_ , Scott Crandall. He was in an accident and–”

Matt couldn’t breath. He tried to set his lunch tray down but it slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor, startling everyone around him.

“Matty?” Seth asked, alarmed. “Is everything okay?”

The Beta ignored him, turning his attention back to the phone. “Wha-what happened? What kind of accident?”

“A group of Rebels attacked a Wal-Mart and there were several small explosions. He was caught in one of the blasts.”

Matt’s legs buckled and he grabbed onto Seth’s arm to keep himself steady. He squeezed his eyes shut. “Is he alright? He’s not–”

“He’s in stable condition, but his hearing has been severely damaged. He stopped responding to our voices about an hour and a half ago and we’ve had to rely solely on handwriting to communicate with him.”

“Oh God,” Matt gasped. “Where-where is he? What hospital?”

“Phoenix, Arizona.”

“Thank you. Thank you. I’ll be there soon. Thank you.” Matt hung up and turned to leave, but Seth grabbed his arm.

“Matty, tell me what’s going on.”

The Beta looked dazed. “I have to go. I have to …” He paused as he noticed Alec Giordano walking out of the lunch line next to the one he was in and instantly dashed over to him, startling the young Maior when the Lupus grabbed his arm.

“Matt, hello, what can I do for you?”

“I know you’re Maior an’ all now, but I _really_ need a favor.”

“Of course,” Alec said, popping a baby carrot into his mouth. “What do you need?”

“Can you get me a plane ticket for Arizona and a car? I don’t have the money and–”

The Lamia cocked his head. “This is about Scott, isn’t it?”

Matt’s mouth popped open. “H-how do you know about him?”

“I can read minds. Duh.”

“R-right …”

“Anyway, of course I’ll get you a plane ticket and a car. Actually” –he handed his lunch over to his _bonorum_ guard, Genny, and pulled his wallet from his back pocket, handing over a slick, black card to Matt– “take this. It has unlimited funds. Do what you need with it.”

“Maior Alec,” Genny began nervously. “Are you sure that is wi–”

“Hush, Genny,” the Lamia said, and her jaw snapped shut instantly. “It’s my duty as Maior to help others. And that includes my friends. Besides, I can always get another card or just get one in Matt’s name and then give it to him. If he needs this for something important then I will give it to him.” He sent a wink in Lupus’ direction. “Just don’t spend all my money now.”

“Of c-course, Maior, th-thank you,” Matt stammered.

The Lamia sighed. “What have I told you guys about doing that? I’m just ‘Alec’ to you, okay?” Matt nodded, looking stunned, and Alec moved closer to him. “Just promise to call me later and tell me what’s going on, okay?”

“Y-yeah, of course. Of course I will. Promise. I … I gotta go now though. I’ll see ya.” Matt clapped Alec on the back before racing over to grab his bag and jacket and rushing out of the cafeteria.


End file.
